Out of the Woods
by Maeve2
Summary: When Spike stumbles upon a mysterious young woman in the woods, he and the Scoobies try to help her discover her past while learning some things about themselves


Out of The Woods  
Author-E.M. McNamara  
Feedback – elizmmcnamara@aol.com  
Spoilers –Takes place after "Into the Woods". AU  
Rating – PG/PG-13  
Disclaimer – Everything _BtVS _belongs to Joss and Mutant Enemy. Maddie belongs to me.   
Summary – After Spike stumbles upon a mysterious young woman in the woods, He and the Scoobies try to help her uncover her past while learning some things about themselves. 

Notes-This is my first fanfic ever, so reviews would be greatly appreciated!

Prologue

Spike heard her before he saw her.  First the thud and then the profuse swearing that following as she tripped over a branch and onto the freshly rained-on ground.  He was cutting through the woods on the way home to his crypt following a night of debauchery.  Well, drinking at the Bronze at least.  Talking a few steps forward, he looked down to see the blond head bent down in the moonlight.  The name raced through his head –_Buffy- _like a bullet.  _No, _he realized. _This girl's got longer hair than Buffy. _It was as long as Dawn's but wavy and going every which way.  Lifting her head, the girl pulled herself out of the wet leaves and mud the forest floor had become.  She stood with a grunt and wiped her dirty hands on the skirt of her white dress.  It was sleeveless with a brocade fitted bodice that let out in a full empire waist skirt.  Definitely not the typical wear for a midnight stroll in the woods.  She was average height and build.  Spike noticed that she filled out the bodice of her dress quite nicely.  She had a pretty face. Small features offset by her slightly disproportioned full lips and wide-set dark blue eyes that seemed almost black.  Spike thought that if he could still bite, this girl would have already been lunch.

Dazed, she looked around the darkened woods that engulfed them.  Noticing Spike for the first time, she gazed at him and spoke.

"Where am I?"

Part One

"You alright? You took a pretty nasty tumble there," Spike said, absentmindedly picking a twig out of her unkempt hair. _What the bloody hell am I doing? What do I care about this bint and her lack of coordination? _he thought.  He realized he might have a head case on his hands, a nut that liked to put on her party dress and wander out of the house at five in the morning. Being with Dru for all those years gave him enough experience in insanity.  

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just have no idea where I am or what I'm doing and I'm…what am I **wearing**?" she said, looking down at her mud splattered dress. 

"You're in the woods in Sunnydale."  She shot him a confused look. "Sunnydale, California.  Ring a bell?" he prodded.  "You know, California, the really long state on the west coast of the United States."

She made a sound of disgust. "I know where California is. I, uh, just don't know what I'm doing here." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Come to think of it, I don't know where I was before here, or before there or…anything."  

She looked up at him and Spike could see the beginnings of panic in her eyes.  The sun was going to rise soon, he knew that. He had to make a decision and quick.  Leave amnesia girl to wander aimlessly or take her with him back to his crypt?  Spike considered the options.  Why should he help this girl? _Because Buffy would_. The thought popped into his head before he could stop it. 

He sighed. "Listen I'll help you try to sort this out, but why don't we get inside before it," he paused "rains again."

The girl eyed him. "Why should I trust you?"

"Look Little Red, you can roam around these woods all you want until the Big Bad Wolf finds you or you can trust me. It's up to you."

With that Spike turned and started walking toward the cemetery.  He counted the seconds in his head. _One, two, three, fo-_

"Hey, wait up!" she called, running to catch up with him. 

****************************************************************

Spike pushed the stone door of his crypt closed just as the sun was making its way over the horizon.  He turned to see the girl curiously studying his digs.

"It's homey", she said, running her hand over a sarcophagus. "In a creepy, desecrating-the-final-resting-place-of-the-dead kind of way."

"I think my accommodations are the least of your worries," Spike replied. "Now what's this business about how you can't remember anything?"

She sighed. "It's not exactly that. I know some things. I know my name is Madeline Perry.  I know I like pineapple on my pizza and that I hate the color orange.  I know that I love the sound of the ocean and am a horrible driver and used to have a huge crush on Corey Feldman. But I can't remember where I'm from, whether I go to school or have a job, or what that job might be. I don't remember how I got here or if I have a family, and if I do, what they're like. I don't remember anything that's happened to me in my life. The last thing I remember was running through those woods, running from someone, or something. Then tripping over that damn branch. 

Spike raised his eyebrow. "You had a crush on Corey Feldman? What'd you see in that nancy boy? Now, Corey Haim, I could maybe understand…"

"That's not the point!" she cried in frustration. "It's like I know who I am, but have no idea how I'm supposed to fit into this world."

"I think a lot of people have that problem," Spike said. "You said something was chasing you?" She nodded. "Hmm, that could be important. Maybe the answer to this whole mess." 

"What do you mean?" Madeline asked, yawning as she leaned against the sarcophagus.  It was morning and she realized how tired she was. She must have been up all night. 

"Never mind, I'll explain later," Spike said. "It looks like you need some rest and so do I." 

Spike got her a blanket a pillow for the sarcophagus.  He might be helping her, but he wasn't about to give up his bed.  As she made up her make shift bed, Spike looked down and scuffed the floor of the crypt with his boot.

"There's something you should probably know about me," he began. "I'm-

"A vampire. I know," Madeline interrupted. "Don't look so surprised. The crypt was kind of a giveaway. Not to mention that I've seen _The Lost Boys _like 150 times."

Spike looked at her curiously. "You're not shocked?"

"I'm in a fugue state. I'd believe you if you told me Major McCheese was President. But not the Hamburglar. He has **no** people skills whatsoever. Besides, I think I knew before all this that there are things in this world that other people don't want to admit."

Spike was somewhat confused. "You're not afraid?"

She shrugged. "I guess I figure that you would have hurt me already if you were going to." 

"What is the matter with you people? Hello, vampire! I may have a bloody chip in my head but I'm still evil", Spike growled. 

"Okay, okay, you're evil. What's this about a chip?" Madeline asked.

"Long story. Let's just say that if I try to hurt a human, it feels like World War Three is going on in my head. So you can rest easy knowing that big bad Spike can't even do so much as yank a hair out of your pretty little head."  Spike turned to go to bed. He was tired and getting annoyed with this bint's "so what?" attitude.

"So your name's Spike?" Madeline asked.

"What of it?" He answered, not turning around. 

"Thank you, Spike," she said. He glanced at her and she offered a small smile before settling down to sleep.  Spike stood a moment, contemplating the mystery that is the female species before shaking his head and making his way off to bed. 

***********************************************************

Madeline slept fitfully, tossing around on the cold stone of the sarcophagus.  Her sleep was punctuated by dreams that left her disturbed and not very well rested.  When Spike awoke in the late afternoon, he climbed to the upper level of the crypt to see Madeline poking around his easy chair.

"Got any food in this place? I'm starving," she announced.  He tossed her a half eaten bag of Doritos and she hopped up on the sarcophagus and began munching on them as pulled on a button up red shirt.  Spike studied her face and realized that she was older than he first thought, probably a year or two older than Buffy. 

"As soon as the sun sets, I'm going to take you to some people that might be able to help you."  Spike hated the thought of running to the Scoobies for help, but he knew that they had more resources for information than he did about demons that might cause memory loss.  Madeline had said she was being chased by something in the woods last night, and Spike certainty wouldn't put it past some baddie to be lurking around those parts.  His plan was to pass her on to them to figure out this mess. Spike wasn't looking for a roommate.  Especially not one that ate his food as fervently as she was doing at the moment. 

Madeline swallowed the last of the Doritos. "You mean to help get my memory back? Um, what if I don't want it back?" Spike tilted his head in confusion. "I mean, what if my past is so horrible that it's better that I forgot it?  What if I was some psycho serial killer or something?" She suddenly remembered that Spike probably killed a good number of people in his time in his quest for human blood. "Uh, not that that's a **bad** thing or anything…"

Spike sighed. "You're not the type.  If there's a spider in your bathroom you probably take it outside instead of hitting it with a bloody newspaper.  The sun's set. Now come on, we're going."

Madeline slowly slid off the sarcophagus and they left the crypt, making their way through the cemetery and on to the street.  Spike thought of the mud stained dress she was wearing and steered them in the direction of the Sunnydale Mall.  When they were outside the doors, Madeline turned to Spike.

"The answer to recovering my memory lies in Wet Seal?" she said, arching an eyebrow. 

Spike handed her a wad of cash. "Get yourself some clothes. And a hairbrush while you're at it. I'll wait here."

She returned twenty minutes later, clad in jeans and a Rainbow Brite t-shirt. 

"Bloody hell, you have the fashion sense of a four year old," Spike mused.

She scowled. "Hey, I just happened to remember that I like Rainbow Brite. She's so festive and cheery, how could you not love her?"

"Do you like anything from **this** decade?"

Madeline shrugged. "How should I know?"  She gave him that half smile again and started walking. "Where to now?"

Spike picked up the lead. "The Magic Box."


End file.
